EU Health Ministers discussed, on Tuesday 7 December, with the Commissioner for Health, Stella Kyriakides, and the Directors of the European Medicines Agency and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic in the EU (see EUROPE 12844/1, EUROPE 12843/2).
Discussions focused on the health restrictions put in place by the EU27 - in particular restrictions on arrivals into the EU - vaccination campaigns and the period of validity for the EU Digital ‘Covid’ Certificate.
On this last point, many delegations were in favour of extending the validity period from 6 to 9 months, after all the required doses of vaccine have been received. However, no formal decision was taken at this meeting.
The ministers also did not address the issue of compulsory vaccination. They did, however, raise the issue of the development and deployment of treatment solutions for Covid-19 in the EU.
The Commission also says that it will “ensure” that these solutions are widely available, Ms Kyriakides said, adding that “even with the vaccination, people will still get sick and need to be treated at home or in hospital”.
For the time being, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recommended the approval of two treatments (see EUROPE 12831/27). Four other treatment candidates, including the oral antiviral developed by Merck (see EUROPE 12836/20), could get the green light from the European Medicines Agency by the end of the year, Ms Kyriakides said.
The Commissioner told a press conference that she had written to health ministers last week to encourage them to use joint procurement contracts to obtain these treatments. Several delegations confirmed, on Tuesday, their interest in these joint contracts. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)